Alachua Astronomy Club, Inc.

Welcome to Alachua Astronomy Club!

The Alachua Astronomy Club, Inc. (AAC), located in Gainesville (county seat of Alachua County) in North Central Florida, USA, is a publicly supported, not for profit organization of people who enjoy looking at stars and planets and who love to communicate their excitement about the heavens to others.

Members Only page contains a member directory and other information for the exclusive use of members.

If you're just starting out and would like to learn more, the Observing Resources page can help you out. We encourage all persons interested in the moon, planets, stars and other astronomical objects to use this site to learn more, find out about Star Parties and other events at the Event Calendar, and it is so simple to Join Us in observing the wonders of the cosmos!

Weather Go /No-Go Messages

Star Party events at Newberry Star Park are contingent on weather. To receive a Go / No-Go message no later than 12 noon on day of the event, be sure to register for the event. To register, click on the event in the Event Calendar at right. Then follow the prompts.

Event Calendar

Chiefland Dark Sky Star Party

25 Mar 2023 6:30 PM • Chiefland

AAC Monthly Meeting

11 Apr 2023 7:00 PM • Kika Silva Pla Planetarium & Zoom

AAC Monthly Meeting

9 May 2023 7:00 PM • Kika Silva Pla Planetarium & Zoom

AAC Monthly Meeting

13 Jun 2023 7:00 PM • Kika Silva Pla Planetarium & Zoom

For 2022, Alachua Astronomy Club will have its monthly meetings in the Kika Silva Pla Planetarium at Santa Fe College. The meetings are hybrid, i.e., conducted in-person at the planetarium and also broadcast via Zoom, but when we have an in-person guest speaker attendance is encouraged. All are welcome.

To register and receive a Zoom link, members of the public should click on the meeting notice in the Event Calendar above.

A WORD FROM THE PRESIDENT: Alachua Astronomy Club is proud to stand up for the University of Florida Department of Astronomy and Gator National Giving Day. The Department's Rosemary Hill Observatory is a favorite site for Club stargazing activities. We are indeed fortunate to have the world-class University of Florida Astronomy Department in our home town. Keep reading to see how you can "stand up and holler."

email : Webview : UF Astronomy Alumni & Friends: Stand Up & Holler!

Dear Alumni and Friends,

UF's annual Stand Up & Holler: Gator Nation Giving Day is coming up! On February 16, we call upon Gators everywhere to stand up for UF by making a gift of any size to the program that means the most to you.

I am excited to share that the Department of Astronomy will be a featured fund this year! When the big day is here, we will be counting on our alumni and friends to show their enthusiasm for the essential work we do.

Here's How You Can Help!

1. Visit this link and make a gift to the Astronomy Department Fund on Giving Day. Every dollar counts!

2. Encourage your family, friends and colleagues to do the same by sharing how UF Astronomy has made a difference in your life. Celebrate by posting the #AllForTheGators hashtag on your favorite social media channels.

3. Watch our progress on the leaderboards, which will be posted on the UF Giving Day page on February 16.

Your gift is essential to enhance our mission to educate and train our students and to help them and the wider community explore the wonders of the cosmos. It allows us to provide students with hands-on observing and research experiences, travel opportunities to scientific meetings, and awards and prizes for their research and outreach. It also supports a wide range of visiting speaker opportunities, including scientific colloquia, alumni career, and public outreach talks. Finally, it helps support our outreach efforts in public schools and across the broader community — and sustain our weekly Public Observing Nights.

Please join us as we celebrate all the opportunities that the Department of Astronomy creates for students and the community — help us explore the universe!

All for the Gators!

Elizabeth Lada
Professor and Chair, Department of Astronomy

Alachua Astronomy Club is a public, not for profit entity, exempt from federal income tax under section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code, organized to promote the science of astronomy by:

Providing opportunities for the local community to learn about and become interested in astronomy, such as, but not limited to, astronomy lectures, demonstrations, and sky observing events.
Making astronomy in general more accessible and visible to the general public, through public and media outreach.
Providing opportunities, at low cost, for its general membership to learn and improve skills related to amateur astronomy, such as, but not limited to, sky observing, amateur scientific research, and the selection, construction, and use of astronomical equipment.